V Bombers: Vulcan, Valiant & Victor

By Dave Windle and Martin W. Bowman

Britain’s desire to stay at the leading edge in the design and development of modern jet powered aircraft was born in the later stages of World War Two. The RAF sent requests to the leading aircraft manufactures for a variety of specifications, amongst which was one for a long-range heavy bomber. Three designs were accepted and eventually went into production – these became the V-Bomber Force. The first to enter service was the Vickers Valliant, a high swept-wing four engine aircraft. This type was used to test-drop Britain’s first H-Bomb in the Christmas Islands and then was tasked with delivering our deterrent during the early years of the Cold War. It saw action in a non-nuclear role during the Suez Crisis and then went on to serve as a flight refueling tanker until withdrawn with metal fatigue problems. The delta-wing Avro Vulcan then carried our latest nuclear weapon until the Royal Navy took over the deterrent task with the Polaris submarine fleet. This aircraft entertained rapt audiences at air displays around the world as its powerful engines, later to power Concorde, allowed this large bomber to fly like a fighter. Its most famous and only wartime service came during the Falklands Conflict for which it is now legendary for bombing Port Stanley, having flown thousands of miles with countless air-to-air refueling link-ups en route. The crescent-winged Handley Page Victor was the most durable of the trio and continued in service as a tanker into the twenty-first century. In practice it was probably the most successful of the three designs. It flew higher and faster than the Vulcan and Valliant and was remarkably robust – even into old age. This book contains the world famous color profiles created by Dave Windle of all three types in different operational modes, configurations and color schemes. Martin Bowman has written detailed descriptions and photographs to create the perfect enthusiasts reference.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jun 25, 2009
• ISBN: 9781783406296

Dave Windle

Dave Windle has gained the reputation of being Britain’s most skilful creator of aircraft profiles. He draws upon his service with the RAF to maintain complete accuracy. Lives near Aberdeen. Martin Bowman is one of Britain’s foremost aviation historians and has written many books and articles. He lives in Norwich.

Book preview

V BOMBERS

With the dawning of the atomic age in August 1945 it was obvious to military strategists that any future bomber to deliver a nuclear weapon would have to be jet powered and of advanced aerodynamic design. In the late 1940s and early 1950s the threat of a nuclear war spurred nations to develop fleets of long-range four-engine jet bombers capable of carrying such a nuclear payload. Towards the end of the Second World War Sir Frederick Handley Page, A. V. Roe and Vickers, who had provided the aircraft for RAF Bomber Command in over five years of war, had already begun thinking in terms of large jet-propelled bombers. In 1946 discussions of their proposals were made with the Air Staff and they resulted in specification B.35/46 being finalised by the end of the year. The Royal Air Force Staff requirements for such an aircraft were covered in specification B.35/46 and this was issued to the aircraft industry on New Years Day 1947. The specification for a medium-range bomber with a range of 3,500 nautical miles, which was capable of carrying a 10,000lb bomb to its target was issued to seven aircraft constructors and tenders requested. Of those submitted the two selected to go ahead were from Handley Page and A.V. Roe. At Shorts of Belfast meanwhile, work had begun on the Sperrin S.A.4, a shoulder-wing monoplane design with four 6,000lb s.t. Avon R.A.2 engines mounted on the wings. Only two Sperrins were built, the first flying on 10 August 1951. Though the Sperrin enjoyed the distinction of becoming the first of the British four-jet bombers, a month later a new specification was issued to cover the production of the Vickers Type 660, which would become the Nation’s first four-jet bomber to enter production as the Valiant. Specifications for a more advanced design than the Sperrin were issued to elicit proposals from Handley Page, A. V. Roe and Vickers, who, following their wartime experience with the Halifax, Lancaster and Wellington respectively, were proven specialists in bomber development. While the Handley Page and Avro jet bomber projects were of an advanced nature their design was such that a vast amount of research was needed to ensure their ultimate success. At the time, the requirements of B35/46 were very advanced and far-reaching and Handley Page expected that it would take until 1952 before a prototype could be flown.

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Handley Page Victor K.1 tanker and Avro Vulcan refuelling. (MoD)

Such were the advanced requirements of the B.35/46 specification that the Air Staff had decided on an ‘insurance’ design for an aeroplane of more conventional nature which might guarantee earlier availability for RAF service. Vickers’ interim V-Bomber design complied with a slightly less demanding (B.9/48) specification and on 2 February 1949 the company received an order for two prototypes: the Type 660 with four 6,500lb s.t. Avon R.A.3s and the Type 667 powered by four Sapphires. At Vickers George R. Edwards and his design team evolved a bomber with wings which embodied compound sweepback in two degrees on the leading edge, the engines being concealed entirely within the centre-section and mounted adjacent to each other close to the fuselage. The tailplane was raised well above turbulence from the wings and the jet efflux by installing it towards midway on the fin. The Valiant prototype made its maiden flight on 18 May 1951 but it was destroyed during a test flight over Hampshire on 12 January 1952. (A second was built and flew for the first time on 11 April that same year). On 5 September 1951 a new requirement was issued to start production of the Valiant B.Mk.1. The first of five pre-production aircraft flew at Brooklands on 22 December 1953.

Handley Page Victor B.1 taxiing at Changi, Singapore in 1965. In the background are Avro Shackletons of No.205 Squadron and Hawker Siddeley Argosys of No.215 Squadron. (Jerry Cullum)

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At Avro meanwhile, the design team led by Roy Chadwick had originally decided on a conventional layout with swept wings but by progressively shortening the fuselage and then removing the tailplane, a delta-wing planform emerged. This was a bold step by the designers because little was known about delta aerodynamics at this time and the concept of the ‘flying triangle’ of these proportions was a daunting prospect. By March 1947 Chadwick had made a firm decision to go ahead with this configuration. Research into delta-wing aircraft had also been conducted by the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) at Farnborough and the combined results of this programme and that of the Avro team brought about a number of changes in the design. The wing became thinner, with the engines buried inside and their intakes built into the wing-roots, and wing-tip fins were deleted in favour of a large central fin. The Avro 698 design was submitted to the Air Ministry in May 1947 by which time the triangle design had grown a nose with large engine intakes at each side. That summer the Ministry of Supply received the tender for the Avro 698 but the Avro team suffered a grievous loss with the death